Petrino detailed affair to boss before firing

FILE - In this Jan. 4, 2011, file photo, Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino, followed by his security detail Arkansas State Police Captain Lance King, left, walks of the field after Arkansas' 31-26 loss to Ohio State in the Sugar Bowl NCAA college football game at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans. The Bobby Petrino saga has left unsavory trails of deceit, including a troubling perception about the relationship between coaches and the police who handle security for them around the Southeastern Conference _ a region where college football reigns supreme. When Petrino wrecked his motorcycle in the hills outside of Fayetteville on April 1, the person he trusted most to handle the immediate aftermath was King, who provided security for the team at Razorback games. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, File)
— AP

FILE - In this Jan. 4, 2011, file photo, Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino, followed by his security detail Arkansas State Police Captain Lance King, left, walks of the field after Arkansas' 31-26 loss to Ohio State in the Sugar Bowl NCAA college football game at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans. The Bobby Petrino saga has left unsavory trails of deceit, including a troubling perception about the relationship between coaches and the police who handle security for them around the Southeastern Conference _ a region where college football reigns supreme. When Petrino wrecked his motorcycle in the hills outside of Fayetteville on April 1, the person he trusted most to handle the immediate aftermath was King, who provided security for the team at Razorback games. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, File)
/ AP

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. 
Bobby Petrino's relationship with his mistress dated back more than a year, with the former Arkansas coach sending her candy, calling her a "close friend" and suggesting the affair that cost him his job started with a kiss over lunch last fall, according to documents released Thursday.

Those details were in handwritten notes kept by athletic director Jeff Long during his investigation of Petrino, who was fired last week. Long's notes, along with those of assistant athletic director Jon Fagg, were released as part of a Freedom of Information Act request made by the Associated Press. The two interviewed Petrino, his mistress and others during the investigation that led to the coach's dismissal on April 10 - nine days after the motorcycle crash that exposed their relationship.

The notes suggest the 51-year-old Petrino and 25-year-old Jessica Dorrell were intimate for approximately five months, from September or October until this past February. According to the notes, however, the university discovered 326 phone calls and 7,228 text messages between the two that date back further, to April 2011. And they show Petrino and Dorrell claimed to have ended the intimate part of their relationship once it became clear she wanted to apply for a job under Petrino - one he wanted her to "earn." She was hired March 28 and has since resigned.

Long was clearly skeptical that the affair was truly over, asking in his notes: "If the relationship was over, why get on (the) bike?"

"Why would she say she expected the relationship to continue if the motorcrash didn't occur," Long also wrote down as one of his questions for the coach. No answer was listed for either in the notes.

In the end, Long was unable to overlook Petrino's repeated failures to disclose details of his affair, noting the following times in his notes:

. "You knew when you hired her."

. "You knew on Sunday (the day of the crash)."

. "You knew when I visited you in (the) hospital (the day following the accident)."

Long also made a point in his notes to remind Petrino that he hid the affair and a $20,000 Christmas gift before Dorrell was hired. Dorrell told Long she hid the money under her mattress, then deposited it shortly before buying a new car the week she began her job.

According to Long, Petrino said he and Dorrell became friends while she held her former job as a fundraiser for the Razorback Foundation. They began going to lunch together, and Petrino told his boss that his affair with Dorrell began with a kiss last fall.

At one point last October, Petrino and Dorrell were sitting in a car, eating lunch and talking and "she said are you going to kiss me," according to Long's notes of his April 10 conversation with Petrino. He then wrote: "Kissed on lunch outing."

It's unclear when the relationship turned sexual. Dorrell said the two had been intimate four to six times since around September, and the "last encounter" was around signing day on Feb. 1, when Petrino showed up via car service at a Little Rock event rather than arriving by plane. Fagg's notes indicate the two decided they should be only friends sometime in early February. Petrino told Long that Dorrell was interested in the job, that "she approached him. Thought she would be good. Understood they would definitely have to stop."